The cartons used to package consumer, commercial and industrial goods are frequently themselves packaged prior to being assembled and filled with a designated merchandise. For example, the cartons used for retail of 12-packs of 12 oz. soft drink cans are made of fiberboard and are transported in a disassembled or “knocked down” configuration within a case or box. Such cartons can be referred to as “product,” and ultimately will contain “merchandise” (e.g. soft drink cans). A large number of such cartons may be packaged in a box, known as an “HSC” or half-slotted case. Such cases can be made of cardboard and have no top or lid. The HSC may be transported on pallets. Accordingly, a task involves removing the HSC from the pallet, and removing the cartons from each HSC for precision placement onto a magazine feeding machinery that assembles and fills each carton. This is frequently done manually.
A “magazine” is device that contains cartons (product), such as the cartons used to contain 12 cans of soft drink, and allows the cartons to be fed into machinery that assembles the cartons and fills them with merchandise (e.g. cans of soft drink).
Loading a magazine is a difficult and repetitious job. Failure to unload the HSC rapidly enough from a pallet, and to thereby maintain an adequate supply of product in the magazine, can cause assembly line shutdown. Numerous other failures can result in down time. For example, failure to align (register) the cartons within the magazine can result in jamming of the machinery consuming the cartons.